Environmental and infrastructural security of the Baltic Sea – the "Baltic Pact"

Apart from Russia, all countries bordering the Baltic Sea belong to the EU and NATO. The Russian economic zone covers only 6.5% of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, there is nothing to prevent the conclusion of a Baltic Pact, parallel to the existing Baltic agreements, which would strongly protect the natural environment and the security of the infrastructure of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea. Under the terms of the pact, member states would have the right to carry out preventive and follow-up inspections of all vessels sailing in the Baltic Sea, from the Danish straits to the borders of Russia's exclusive economic zone, while maintaining freedom of navigation. Such inspections should cover: the ecological condition, discharge of ballast water, waste, sewage, etc. In this regard, the regulations should be radically tightened. In addition, rigorous inspections should cover the security of cargoes, especially dangerous ones. Every ship and floating object in the vicinity of technical infrastructure, i.e., power and communication cables, pipelines, wind turbines, fairways, etc., should be monitored and checked not only for their technical condition, but also for the likelihood of actions targeting the infrastructure or otherwise threatening other ships, the environment, and infrastructure. In the event of an incident or threat, the vessel would be forcibly escorted to the nearest port and detained there until the shipowner rectifies the deficiencies. In the case of actions targeting or threatening infrastructure – detention of the vessel and crew and initiation of a criminal investigation with the possible sanction of confiscation of the means used to commit the crime. Unmanned objects operating close to critical infrastructure could be intercepted and detained.
A separate issue is the removal of ticking ecological bombs from the bottom of the Baltic Sea: this applies in particular to chemical weapons sunk after World War II. It also applies to the huge number (between 8,000 and 20,000) of wrecks lying at the bottom of this shallow body of water. The main parties responsible for this situation are the US and the UK, and to some extent the USSR. It is therefore reasonable that these countries should cover a significant part of the costs of such an operation.

Tasks to be carried out under the Baltic Pact:

1. Inventory and precise location of chemical weapons deposits on the Baltic seabed;
2. Construction of a continuous monitoring system;
3. Development of safe technologies for the extraction of containers from the environment, transport and disposal on land or at sea;
4. Conducting safe experiments in real conditions of extraction and transport of containers with simulation of possible risks and possible random events.
5. Development of procedures, recommendations, and technical measures, including preventive measures.
6. Creation of a joint venture to extract, transport, and dispose of chemical weapons from the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Similarly, the issue of thousands of tons of fuel oil and diesel fuel in wreck tanks, as well as ammunition and explosives, must be resolved.
Under the Pact, a network of monitoring equipment can and should be built at the bottom of the exclusive economic zones of the Pact members.
The tasks described in the draft may seem “titanic,” but it should be borne in mind that the current state of our sea-lake threatens the life, health, environment, and economy of the people who use it.

Baltic Connections Foundation
Author: Andrzej Habryń
andrzej.habryn@baltic-connections.com

February 2026